Your guide to SEC Media Days

Alabama football coach Nick Saban will speak at SEC Media Days on Thursday.

By Tommy DeasExecutive Sports Editor

Published: Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at 12:23 a.m.

Media Days coverage

The 29th annual Southeastern Conference Media Days event opens in Hoover today. The three-day event will gather each of the league’s 14 head football coaches and three plays from each team for a series of interviews at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham Wynfrey Hotel. The SEC expects more than 1,000 media members to attend, with an expectation that this year’s gathering will be the largest ever.

The event is not open to the public, but fans can gather in the hotel lobby in hopes of getting autographs of players and coaches.

Here is a quick guide to understanding SECMD and how best to follow the action:

How it works

Each day, coaches and players from each of the league’s 14 teams will rotate through various rooms on the convention floor of the Wynfrey, meeting at designated times with print, broadcast and Internet media.

Today’s teams are Florida, Missouri, Ole Miss and South Carolina. Six teams will appear on Wednesday: Texas A&M, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Auburn and Arkansas. The event will conclude Thursday with LSU, Georgia, Alabama and Vanderbilt.

Each day is scheduled to feature at least one player who figures to be a Heisman Trophy candidate in 2013: South Carolina’s Jadeveon Clowney today, reigning Heisman winner Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M on Wednesday and Alabama’s McCarron on Thursday.

More in store

SEC Media Days is not limited to coaches and players. SEC Commissioner Mike Slive will issue his annual state of the league address today starting at 12:30 p.m. to kick off the event. Steve Shaw, the SEC’s coordinator of football officials, will address rule changes and officiating procedures Wednesday morning. The National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame will have a representative speak at 8 a.m. on Thursday, followed by Justin Connolly of the yet-to-be-launched SEC Network.

Attending media members can vote on a Preseason All-SEC Team, which will be released Thursday morning.

Track the action

Tidesports.com and Tuscaloosanews.com will have wall-to-wall coverage each day. Tidesports.com is a premium subscriber website but some content will be available for free. Tuscaloosanews.com is also paywall-protected, with non-subscribers able to look at five content items per month without charge.

Tidesports.com members can discuss SEC Media Days on our “Talk of Champions” forum and get exclusive breaking news on UA athletics and football recruiting.

Reports from each coach’s appearance, player features, video and photo galleries will be posted as quickly as possible throughout SEC Media Days. Other features will look at the best quotes of each day, the worst questions from the media and the buzz of each session. Be sure to check out Tidesports.com’s SEC Media Days Central hub page, which will provide the latest content as it is posted. A link can be found on the site’s front page.

ESPN’s “College Football Live” show will originate from SEC Media Days for the next three days. The 30-minute program starts at 2:30 p.m. each day, with ESPN carrying the program today and Wednesday, and Thursday’s edition set for ESPNU. Each day’s interviews will be live streamed on E3/Watchespn.

Tweet central

The Tidesports.com staff will be utilizing Twitter throughout SEC Media Days. Follow the staff to get as-it-happens reports throughout the event:

* Toney Hurd (DB, 5-9, 190, Sr. Missouri City, Texas); 2012 season: 67 tackles, four tackles for loss, started in seven game and played in all 13

* Johnny Manziel (QB, 6-1, 200, So. Kerrville, Texas); 2012 season: Threw for 3,706 yards passing and rushed for 1,410 yards to break the SEC record for total yardage with 5,116. Also became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy.